Tubular construction



31, O RASOR TUBULAR CONSTRUCTIQN Filed Nov. v 3. 1941 EUR /NL/ENTUR 7m/ALJ Rn E f f f f f f f n Patented July 3l, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUBULAR CONSTRUCTION Orval Rasor, Portland, Oreg.

Application November 3, 1941, Serial No. 417,59i

2 Claims.

My invention relates to the construction of tubular units such, for example, as conduits, barrels, baskets and the like, and preferably those made up of laminated or veneer stock.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a. method by which a tubular unit of this character may be constructed of spirally wrapped strips of veneer stock in which the strips are wound in opposite hand spirals in the several laminations. The strips preferably are arranged with the grain thereof extending lengthwise of the strips and thus the grain in the several strips across each other and the entire unit is thereby strengthened and braced when the strips are glued or otherwise secured together. Said strips of veneer tend to unwind themselves before the glue sets and I provide straddling-type headers which may be placed upon said tubular units when the laminations are wrapped in place and the glue remains undried to perform two functions: One, to .prevent the strips of spirally wound veneer from unwinding and thus to hold them tightly in place as said tubular units are being formed. and two` said headers provide means for protecting the ends of said tubular units and also provide means by which several units may be joined longitudinally together or caps, bottoms or lids may be secured over said ends if said tubular units are used as containers.

A further object of my invention is to provide tubular units of this character in which the ends are thus secured and reinforced.

Said objects are attained by forming a unit into tubular form, overlying the ends thereof with an annular tapered wedge, placing a bifurcated annular header thereover and driving said header longitudinally of the tubular unit so that the wedge is driven into the ends of said unit to split or spread the walls and to interlock said header and wedge with said split or spread walls to prevent separation of said parts.

The details of my invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a pipe or conduit embodying my invention in which several lengths are shown joined together;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a container embodying my invention in which the walls thereof are of uniform diameter, showing headers in place thereon and a bottom arranged in one end thereof;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section thru a container having diverging wall portions with a bottom locked therein and headers arranged at both ends thereof;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary broken perspective view showing the manner in which a header and wedge may be forced into and locked in the end of said tubular unit;

Fig. 5 is a more or less diagrammatic view showing in section a header, a wedge and one end of a wall; illustrating the position of the parts before the header is driven in place;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the arrangement of the parts after said header has been driven longitudinally of the wall to force the wedge between laminations and to lock the wall, header and wedge securely together; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the annular wedge with one portion shown broken to illustrate the degree to which said wedge is tapered.

In Fig. 1 I illustrate the manner in which my invention may be incorporated in a conduit comprisini.1 a plurality of lengths joinedtogether by an encompassing band overlying the joints bee tween sections. Each section I is made laminated and each lamination Ici-Ib is formed of strips of wood 2 spirally wound about said laminations with the grain thereof extending lengthwise thereof. The layers or laminations are wound opposite hand to those in the other layer or lamination. Thus. the strips 2 which form the several laminations extend angularly to those in adjacent layers or laminations and the grain in each strip crosses the grain in adjacent strips. Thus, when the laminations are glued together they cannot easily be split or broken because of said cross graining. Because of the fact that the strips are wound spirally. it is necessary that some means be provided for preventing said strips from unwinding while the glue remains unset. It is common to provide clamps. presses, bindings and the like to hold the layers of veneer stock together. I have discovered that when a tubular unit is made with spirally wound strips such as in my invention, that the strips may be held tightly in place by a header 3 placed over the ends thereof. This prevents the strips from unwinding and the tubular sections from increasing in diameter. The strips in one layer tend to unwind in one direction and the strips in the underlying layer or layers tend to unwind in the opposite direction. Thus, if they are bound together, they are both held against unwinding by the header andlalso are adapted to resist the unwinding of the other or adjacent layers. I deem it desirable that the headers placed on said units at such time shall be arranged to be retained permanently in place to reinforce the ends of said units and to provide securing means for binding the sections of conduits together to form a number of sections into a continuous course. Said headers 3 are bifureated so as to straddle the ends of the tubular section and I lock them in place by arranging a tapered annular wedge l over the ends of the sections with the pointed edge la thereof alined with lche joint ic between laminations la-lb in the manner shown in Fig. 5. Then when the header is driven longitudinally of the section, it forces the tapered annular wedge along said joint and spreads the several laminations apart relatively and locks the header in place in the manner shown in Fig. 6.

The interior faces 5 and 5a of the header 3 preferably converge toward each other at the open edge 6 of the header and said faces slant at an angle substantially the same as the angle of diver- Hence of the faces ol the tapered annular wedge Il. This produces a tight interlock of the parts, and when the headers and wedges are forced into place while the glue between laminations is still soft, said glue tends to cement said parts together and supplements the interlock of the parts to prevent displacement thereof. The several sections of conduit thus formed may be joined end for end by an encircling band 'i having a chambered inner face "la which straddles the headers on adjacent ends of sections. sealing ring 8 between said headers and. said bands so as to prevent leakage between the abutting faces of said headers. The band is tightened by means of a bolt and nut structure 9 or by any equivalent means for drawine1 said encircling band tightly into position.

If my invention is to be embodied in a barrel i0, such as is illustrated in Fig. 2, tubular side walls ii may be formed in the manner described with relation to the sections of conduit in Fig. l and the headers locked in place in a similar manner. In a barrel the headers i2 may serve the purpose of reinforcing and locking the ends of the barrel and also serve as an abutment with which a bottom i3 may engage. Although I speak of the side walls of a tubular unit as being laminated and made in plural layers, it is to be understood that any number of layers may be provided which is thought suitable or convenient and in the conduit in Fig. 1, I show two laminations and in the barrel in Fig. 2 l show 'three laniinations iia-ib-l ic. It is not to be understood that my invention is limited thereto` said members being chosen only for the purpose of illustration.

In Fig. 3 I show a container M in which the walls i5 comprising,r laminations 45o-i527 converge toward the open mouth i6 thereof. The header il at the bottom thereof serves to reinforce that end oi said walls and to hold the bottom i8 in place. Because oi the convergence of said walls, I preferably insert said bottom in the walls I preferably provide a resilient assess@ before header il' is fixed place and drive the bottom i8 tightly into position at the saine time as the Wedge @il is driven in said end by the header li. This insures a tight iit between the face of the header and the bottom and a tight nt between the peripheryv of the bottom and the interior sur tace or lbore of the walls of said container,

In Fig. l I illustrate the manner in which the bifurcated legs of a header 3 extend about the outside and the inside of one end and when said end is split, that is, when the laminations of said ends are spread apart by the entrance of the wedge il, the strips 2 are held tightly in place to prevent unwinding. As has been pointed out, said f strips are spirally wound in opposite hands in the several layers of a section of conduitand tend to unwind in diierent directions and thus when two'oppositely wound strips of material are held tightly by a header they cooperate with the header to restrict unwinding of the other strips.

Although my invention is illustrated as used in connection with laminated tubular elements. it is to be understood that it has lesser but substantial use in connection with tubular units in which the walls are made of solid stock. If said walls are solid, the 'Wedge does not enter into a joint between laminations of course, but splits the end in the same manner as it would spread the laminations. Because this is so obvious, I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the manner in which the header and an annular wedge would split a solid piece substantially in the same manner and to the same degree as it would spread the laminations in a built-in section.

I claim:

l. A hollow tubular unit comprising a wood veneer Wall composed of a plurality of laminations, U-shaped headers overlying and straddling the ends of said unit, said headers having internal wall surface converging relatively toward the open face of said header, and an annular wedge member arranged at each end of the tubular unit and extending between laminations and lying within the confines of the header at said end, said wedge members being unconnected with said headers.

2. A. hollow tubular unit comprising a wood veneer wall composed of a plurality of laminations, Ushaped headers overlying and straddling the ends oi said unit, said headers having internal wall surfaces converging relatively toward the open face of said header, and an annular wedge member arranged at each end of the tubular unit and extending between laminations and lying within the connes oi the header at such end` said wedge members being unconnected with said headers, the sides of said wedge members diverging at substantially the same angle as do the internal wall surfaces of the headers that overlie them.

ORVAL RASOR. 

